Between 2010 and 2011, foreign companies flocked to Hong Kong for IPOs. Household names like Prada, Samsonite and L’Occitane vied for attention with energy and resources companies like Brazil’s iron ore producer Vale, Canadian coal miner SouthGobi and Russian aluminium giant UC Rusal. British life insurer Prudential also threw its hat in the ring, offering a fraction of its global shares for Hong Kong investors.